Page 45 of Brutal Prince

“Okay,” I say in a strangled voice. “I’ll go.”

“Good.” Ms. Parsons nod firmly, makes a point of not looking in Briar’s direction, and then goes back to her desk and starts eating an apple with such determination, I wonder if she’s maybe a closet stress eater-cum-bulimic.

“I’m gonna enjoy riding you,” Briar says, just loud enough for me to hear.

“You mean riding with me,” I correct him, my focus still on Ms. Parson’s squirrelly little bites.

“Not even a little.”

I turn to him, but he’s decided something on his phone is more important than being the subject of my wrath.

I glance at my class timetable. Two classes, a free period, then one class before lunch.

Oh wait. There’s a typo on my schedule. I tilt my head to the side and shove the timetable into my blazer pocket. Free period is meant to say ‘horse riding with Briar’.

Don’t get me wrong — the thought of getting in a few minutes on horseback sounds like heaven. It wasn’t just me being smarmy on my transcript — I do love horse riding. And, luckily, it was an elective at my last school. I refuse to do dressage or jumping or any of that craziness, but just riding was an awesome experience.

Maybe I can race away from Briar, lose him on the grounds, and get the rest of the period to myself.

I risk a quick glance behind me. Briar’s got his arms crossed over his chest, muscles bulging against his blazer and a smirk all over his face. Is it just me, or his hair a little more tousled than normal? It would be nice if he had a sleepless night too.

A girl can dream, right?

* * *

Briar

I must admit,I’m kinda surprised when Indigo arrives at the stables. I thought she’d hide in the bathrooms until the period was over. I even messaged my crew, putting them on alert in case I needed them to go root her out. This couldn’t have been a better way to get Indi’s guard down than if I’d planned it myself. I think I’ll send Ms. Parsons a gift when I get home. I do so love to make that teacher blush.

“Pick your poison,” I say, sweeping my arm over the row of stabled horses. These aren’t your teenage girl’s ponies. Every horse in the stable is a thoroughbred with more certifications and paperwork than a surgeon.

Lavish Prep takes three things very seriously.

Football.

The chess club.

And their horses.

Bit of a mixed bag, agreed. But the faculty is pretty eclectic, so I guess it makes sense.

Indigo looks past me, crosses her arms, and gives me a smug little smile. “I forgot to mention…” She tugs at the hem of her skirt, showing off an extra inch of her thighs.

I swallow, and force myself to keep my gaze fixed on her eyes instead of letting them slide down her dainty little body. “That you’re a girl?” I say, cocking an eyebrow at her. “I believe I’ve already confirmed that.”

“I can’t ride in a skirt.” She turns around and gives me a little wave over her shoulder. “Suck it, loser.”

She doesn’t make it very far. When I grab her around the waist and spin her around, she lets out a squeal that does Neanderthal things to my body. I shove her away, but not hard enough for her to fall, and regret that I held back when she spins to face me wearing a scowl. “What the hell?”

“Don’t you know you can’t postpone a date with the devil?” I say, showing her my teeth.

I don’t like the way my heart’s knocking against my ribs or how I got a semi back there for the brief moment our bodies connected. This girl is trouble. I should just let her go already so I can get my head back in the game. Fuck it, I think the only reason I ended up drinking so much last night was because of her. To get her out of my fucking head. Didn’t do me any good — the only thing I seemed capable of expending mental energy on was figuring out ways to harass Indi.

“I’ll get a fucking rash if I—” she begins, but cuts off when I swarm past her.

Lavish thought of everything, of course, girls in skirts included. I open one of the lockers inside the stable and pull out a pair of leggings.

Indigo snatches it when I toss it at her and glares at me.

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